Tag: brain
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Did Mutation Shape the Homo Sapien Brain?
Neanderthals are cousins to modern humans and both are grouped in the genus Homo. While designated as different species (Homo neanderthalensis versusHomo sapiens), Neanderthals and humans are genetically close and likely co-existed for thousands of years, primarily in Eurasia. Once considered a more primitive species, evolving science indicates that Neanderthals had brains similar in size […]
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It’s In Your Gut
America is an increasingly overweight country and the problem seems to be getting worse. Already over one-half of Americans are considered overweight and each year more and more people tip the scales into the overweight category. Many factors likely contribute to this trend, but ultimately if we consume more calories than we burn each day […]
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Human Brain Evolution
Primates are our closest relatives with chimpanzees sharing almost 99% of our DNA genomes. Neanderthals are even closer to modern humans with genomes 99.7% identical to ours and with brains nearly the same size as modern humans. Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) and humans (Homo sapiens) were so genetically similar that successful interbreeding occurred, resulting in a […]
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Sonogenetics – Controlling the Brain with Sound
My neuroscience colleagues have long been proponents of the technique known as optogenetics, a procedure that was named the scientific “Method of the Year” in 2010. For this method, brain cells are genetically engineered to respond to a specific wavelength of light. Typically this involves using a virus or other delivery system to augment brain […]
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Viruses and Brain Disease
Humans may produce upwards of 100,000 proteins. Each different type of protein normally folds into a unique shape (its tertiary structure) that is essential to its function. Proteins can misfold due to mutations that change the amino acid sequence of the protein leading to a defective protein. Alternatively, sometimes a wild-type protein (the normal protein) […]
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Cognition and MicroRNAs
In a previous blog (Calculating Dementia), I wrote about an online health and lifestyle questionnaire that could predict your risk of dementia over the coming 5 year period. The algorithm behind the questionnaire was based on data from about 50,000 men and women in Canada. However, the algorithm didn’t take into account family history or […]
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Dangerous Vocations
Accidents happen. Even in laboratories where safety is a priority they occur despite our best (and sometimes not so best) efforts to keep ourselves and our co-workers protected from injury and disease. Scientists working with infectious agents are particularly at risk even though there are numerous physical and procedural requirements in labs to ameliorate the […]
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Epigenetics and Stress: “The moving finger writes; and, having writ, moves on.” – Omar Khayyam
There is a well-known connection between early life stress (ELS) and depression that develops in adolescence or the adult years. Individuals with severe ELS suffer from an up to three-fold higher incidence of depression as adults, a risk seen both in humans and in animal models. What has remained mysterious is the mechanism by which […]